


Better Left Unsaid

by AsagiStilinski



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Laura Hale, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe- Werewolves are still a thing, Awkwardness, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-23
Updated: 2017-06-23
Packaged: 2018-11-17 14:26:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11277144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: Derek's soulmark is a sexual innuendoStiles' soulmark contains the F wordIt's all up hill from there





	Better Left Unsaid

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this Tumblr prompt http://pale-silver-comb.tumblr.com/post/161741430812/jensmellspeaches-writingwhilehuman , I couldn't resist

When little babies come into the world, one of the first things parents and medical staff looked at was their soulmark

The mark of the first words their soulmate would say to them

The most fortunate ones were born with romantic things on their arms

"You have the best eyes"

"I'm so happy to finally meet you"

"I already love you" to name a few

The still mostly fortunate ones had the most common phrases such as "Hi"

"My name is __"

"How can I help you?"

Things such as those

And rounding out the list of fortunate people were those who ended up with funny, awkward, or "adorkable" things like "Do you want fries with that?"

"Do these come in a size six?"

"I'm __ I'll be your waitress this evening,"

"Are you ok?"

"I need help with my computer,"

Even "License and registration please,"

And other various things that would cause some good natured jokes in the family but nothing too serious

Those were the lucky ones, because the UNlucky ones ended up with things like

"I'm pretty sure this is infected,"

"What the hell do you mean I'm pregnant!?"

"Gimme 'nother beer,"

"What the hell is wrong with you!?"

"I'm going to sue you for everything you've got!"

"You're an idiot,"

"Do you have a condom?"

"That was my car you freak!"

"Put your hands in the air and don't move!"

"Just give me the money and nobody gets hurt!"

"I'm sorry for your loss,"

"As I told the last guy, there was RAT HAIR in my coke,"

"Back off before I shove my foot down your throat,"

"You don't have a husband do you?"

"WHAT did you just say to me!?"

And the ever popular: "Oh God not YOU!"

Derek absolutely fell on the "unfortunate" end of the scale

No he didn't have a threat or an insult written on his arm, but what WAS there was... equally awkward for the hospital to stitch into a teddy bear after he was born....

_"Oh my God I wanna ride you into the sunset,"_

Yep

That was written on his arm

Forever staining him with the fact that his soulmate- his one true love, the person he was supposed to spend eternity with, his DESTINY- wants to _ride him into the sunset_ upon their first meeting

When he was a child his parents did everything they could to skate around explaining what his soulmark meant, hiding it from him as much as possible and always making sure he wore long sleeves when he went out, trying to explain that it would be inappropriate to show his mark to the other kids

Ofcourse the older he became the more they backed off and insisted it was his choice to show his mark or not- but he never wanted to

He always went to great lengths to hide it out of embarrassment

It was absolute _torture_ and frankly he wasn't sure if he was more miserable before or after he actually found out what it implied

He hadn't even _met_ his soulmate yet but he already knew he wanted to strangle whoever they were for cursing him like this

Ofcourse to be fair, he had considered it might be his fault

Maybe he does something in the future that causes his soulmate to take one look at him and think of him as a peice of meat

Maybe he does all the talking and his soulmate doesn't get a word in edgewise until after they're already down to their underwear

Maybe they end up drunk out of their minds and just incoherently babble at eachother until that unholy phrase makes it out

Those are all entirely possible....

But also pretty unlikely, considering he doesn't typically come onto people, doesn't like to talk, and can't get drunk...

So maybe his soulmate is just a jerk, that's also possible

 

~+~

 

No offense, but Stiles pretty much hated his life

Not because it was exactly a _bad_ life

But because his soulmate- the person he was destined to spend THE REST OF ETERNITY WITH- was the world's biggest jerk

And it would, ofcourse, be _his_ luck to get stuck with the world's worst soulmark

Scott's was "Oh my God thank you so much you're so sweet!"

(Wich, _ofcourse_ it was)

Lydia's was "Sorry I just... can't look away from your eyes..."

(And to be fair, she DID deserve that)

Mason's was "Oh um, I think I got your coffee by mistake..."

(Ok, nothing spectacular, but still not BAD and definitely distinct)

And Stiles, because he's freaking _Stiles_ was forever cursed with "You have got to be freaking kidding me! SERIOUSLY!? YOU!?"

And to make matters worse, it didn't actually say "freaking", that was just what his father always told people to keep from them hearing the actual version

(His mother, God rest her soul, atleast thought it was kind of funny that her kid had the F bomb forever printed on his skin)

The only one even close to being that bad was Liam, who was stuck with "Oh my God you idiot you broke my nose!!", wich certainly wasn't ideal but atleast it didn't contain profanity that he had to cover up in public places

Anyway, the point was, this soulmark had made his life a living HELL

He was never able to show it off to people, to fantasize about who might say those words to him with his freinds, to think anything GOOD or optimistic about what his soulmate could be like, _to wear short sleeves_

He could only imagine the looks on the faces of the doctors and nurses when he was born and he had the teddy bear he got from the hospital shoved away in storage, not wanting to be reminded any more than he had to be

Hell when he had his school pictures taken he had to keep his arm hidden, unlike everyone else who happily displayed their soulmarks

It was....

He wanted to freaking kill his soulmate and he hadn't even MET them yet, not that it MATTERED, apparently they were going to hate him from day one....

 _His luck_ , everyone

 

~+~

 

So, Derek's sister owned a horse stable

He worked there every now and then when she needed the extra help, it wasn't a problem since he was a writer and had the time to spare and he liked working with animals, sometimes he actually found it fun

This was not one of those times

He had spent the majority of the day shoveling crap (literally) and cleaning up the stalls rather than actually grooming, feeding, or interacting in any way with the horses themselves and it was starting to grate on his nerves

Now he was finally getting ready to start brushing one of the horses (thankfully) and of-freaking-COURSE Laura had to call him over to get a horse ready for a guest

He was just... not having a good day and needed to relax, something that interacting with _people_ typically succeeded in doing the exact opposite of

But Laura needed his help and he was in no place to refuse what she needed at the time so ... interacting with people it was, apparently

So he gathered the equipment he needed, reined up the horse that Laura had requested, and started to make his way out of the stables

The guest that needed tending to was supposed to be waiting at one of the outdoor round pins, hopefully he was there like he was supposed to be and not wandering around somewhere...

Luck seemed to be on his side in atleast one area today, as he stepped out of the stable and started his way towards the round pin, he caught the sight of a stranger

He was a rather beautifull stranger, with soft brown hair, eyes like coffee and honey, pale, mole-speckled skin, a lean build, perfectly bow-shaped lips...

He looked pretty calm too, wich was a plus not only for the horse, but for Derek as well

Not that enthusiasm was bad, just.... not Derek's ideal, considering he already wasn't great with people

Ok, maybe, just maybe, this wouldn't be so bad

And then, as he started getting closer, leading the big black stallion towards the stranger, he heard them

The words he had been waiting for his entire life

The words that had _plagued_ him since the day he was born

The guy looked straight at him, gasped, eyes blowing out wide, and blurted out:

_"Oh my God I wanna ride you into the sunset,"_

Derek wanted to punch this guy

"You've got to be freaking kidding me... seriously!? YOU!?"

Only Derek didn't say "freaking"

The look on the guy's face suddenly turned incredibly sour, aggravated and upset as he marched forward

"Yeah well I'm not exactly happy you're my soulmate either buddy! You cursed me with a lifetime of wearing the F bomb on my arm! And as if that weren't bad enough you've made it EXPLICITLY clear from my freaking BIRTH that you wanted nothing to do with me and were disappointed that you were stuck with me so if anyone has a right to be mad here it should be me!"

Ok, so maybe the stranger had a good point, growing up like that must have been.... well, "difficult" was putting it mildly....

But that didn't negate the CRAP Derek had had to go through, and atleast he had a valid reason for saying what he did!

"Atleast I had a valid reason! You've had me walking around my entire life with a freaking come on- and a TERRIBLE one at that- scribbled on my arm! Who even says something so crude before you even meet them!?"

"What the hell are you talking about? You were the one who started all of this! I didn't say a thing to you until long after you'd spouted off how disappointed you were with me!"

"What?! You said- and I QUOTE- that you wanted to 'ride me into the sunset'!"

There was a very awkward, very tense pause, the man across from him scrunching up his face and biting his lip

"I was talking... _to the horse_ ,"

Derek would have felt stupid- he would have felt incredibly embarrassed, humiliated even, if it weren't for one little problem

"Well fate seemed to think otherwise," he huffed, shoving his sleeve up and glaring as he showed the horrific birth mark to the other man

His soulmate, for what it was worth, looked absolutely shocked and appalled

"Dude... I SWEAR ... I did NOT intend that to be directed at you...."

Derek was quiet for a moment, swallowing tensely and listening to the stranger's heartbeat

He wasn't lying....

"If... you weren't talking to me then... then why is it written on my arm?"

The other was quiet for a few moments, biting his lip

"Maybe... because you THOUGHT I was talking to you, I mean scientists still don't really know how the soulmate thing works so maybe there's something to do with intention or perception... I mean what about people who are stuck with their soulmate's first words to them being 'Help I'm being robbed' or something? I mean do you really think they're REALLY just speaking to one person? No, they're screaming it into a crowd,"

Derek was quiet for a few moments, glaring down at the ground because....

Because hell he had a _point_....

"I'm sorry," Derek said quietly, hanging his head

"I'm so so sorry.... for cursing you with that horrible thing on your arm,"

God... what had he put this poor guy through?

Living with one of the worst words in the English language on his skin since birth... and not to mention the implications that his soulmate hated him, or at the very least was disappointed that they were stuck with him....

That must hurt just as much- if not WORSE- than the hell Derek had lived through....

"Well, to be fair, I'm sorry I forced that ugly blemish on you," the other man returned

"It's ... atleast you didn't mean any harm by it," Derek argued quietly

"And I'm sure you didn't mean it either in context," his soulmate challenged back with a small smirk

Derek's lips twitched up just slightly, inhaling and stepping closer, holding his hand out for the other man politely

"I'm Derek, by the way, I... don't think we've introduced eachother during all of this,"

His soulmate gave a slight smile, bowing his head

"Stiles," he replied simply, taking a slow, seemingly hesitant step forward

"I uh... look, can we just.... can we just start over?" he asked, lifting his head up a little bit

"I would be happy to," Derek replied with a slightly relieved sigh, bowing his head and clearing his throat

"SO ... horseback riding huh? Is there any particular reason or...?"

"Yeah um... my freind is getting married and she wants everyone in the wedding party to ride horseback down the beach ..."

Derek nearly dropped the reins, eyebrows raised so high that they nearly disappeared into his hairline

"You have got to be kidding me,"

"I am not,"

"And... when is this wedding?" he asked slowly

"Two months from now, I know there's not alot I have to learn- I mean the horse is just gonna be slowly trotting along the beach, it isn't like I have to learn to race or anything,"

Slowly, Derek shook his head and sighed, a fond and amused smile resting on his face

"You know, I always thought that the day I met my soulmate the strangest thing that would happen would be hearing you say 'I want to ride you into the sunset'.... I was wrong, this really tops it,"

Stiles let out a snort, shrugging slightly

"Yeah well, when I pictured meeting my soulmate I didn't picture any of this... but anyway, that can all be talked about later, for right now I don't want to keep your other customers waiting any longer,"

Derek winced, looking down a bit before adjusting his hold on the reins

"Well.... about that, I'm not the instructor, my sister is, this is her riding school, I'm just here to help out with the grunt work for the day, she's running late with someone now as it is,"

"Ohh.... that's.... huh," Stiles muttered back vaguely

"She's a great instructor though, really, you'll like her,"

"Oh I don't doubt that I just... wish we could spend more time together, though.... I don't have a date for the wedding, how do you feel about Saturday nights in two months?"

Derek gave a slight snort, grinning teasingly at him

"It's lucky for you I have the social life of a pecan,"

"Wow, yeah, lucky indeed," Stiles grinned back

"Though perhaps we could consider having coffee first? Maybe... later tonight?"

"Screw coffee man, we're SOULMATES, how about dinner?"

"Dinner.... dinner sounds fantastic," Derek said sincerely

"Then dinner it is,"

Unfortunately their discussion wasn't able to continue on much further, the sound of someone calling out Derek's name interrupting whatever strange, almost flirty moment they had started to have

"That would be Laura," he noted

"Oh... shame, here I was finally starting to like you," Stiles said with a teasing grin

Derek didn't want to respond to that in any way other than rolling his eyes but... well.... he agreed, he had wanted to spend more time with Stiles and actually get to know the man he had spent the last two decades wanting to punch in the face

"I'll be here until six, if you want to get a dinner a little early," he offered with a small smile

Stiles' eyes lightened up a little bit, giving a quick nod and a grin

"I'll find you the second I'm done here,"

Derek smiled, giving a quick nod and handing the horse's reins off to his sister as she came closer

"So, this is the guy huh?" Laura asked with a small smirk

Apparently, thanks to the all powerfull werewolf hearing, she had heard the shouting... or atleast, slightly more likely, the dinner plans

Derek didn't date, always having been a bigger fan of just waiting until he met his soulmate before starting a romantic life, the fact that he was openly agreeing to have dinner with someone (and his heart was fluttering in that shy and awkward flirty manner) was probably a good indicator

"Yeah, this is him,"

Stiles, clearly understanding exactly what they were talking about, promptly started turning red

"I was talking to the horse, you know, not him,"

"I didn't say anything," she shrugged innocently, turning towards her brother and carefully taking the reins

"You've helped me enough for one day, take the rest off, when I'm done with your betrothed over here you two should go and spend some time together, get to know eachother,"

"That... really sounds perfect Laura, thanks,"

"Ofcourse, it isn't every day you meet your soulmate you know, especially one with such an ... interesting choice of greeting,"

"Yeah well, to be fair, I gave him quite an interesting greeting too," Derek huffed back

Laura actually looked quite surprised by that, eyebrows raising and head tilting

"You and I will have to talk tommorrow,"

"Count on it," he promised, stepping towards Stiles as Laura lead the horse into the round pin

"I'll be in the stables, let me know when you're done,"

"I will," Stiles promised, glancing down and letting his eyes flicker over to Derek's arm- more importantly, to the covered soulmark....

"You know... I COULD change these things with a bit of magic," Stiles mused as he allowed a soft blue spark of electricity to shift between his fingers

"I mean, I think we both deserve better than what fate has cursed us with you know?"

The offer was tempting, being free of this lifelong burden but....

"No," Derek decided

"I know it sounds crazy but.... we met this way for a reason, and what's the point of having a soulmark if it can be custom tailored to something prettier and more pleasing? This was a fate born connection between us, as .... horrendous as it was, and I just think... we shouldn't tamper with it,"

Stiles looked.... surprisingly happy

Like that had been the answer he wanted to hear

"I agree with you," he replied, taking a step closer and resting a hand on Derek's shoulder

"I guess we'll just have to live with wearing long sleeves forever huh?"

"Maybe," Derek shrugged back, looking down and staring into the other man's eyes

"Or maybe we can get used to it, atleast ... in places where children aren't typically around,"

"Oh boy ... our kids are going to have a FEILD DAY with us," Stiles laughed

"Well.... you're not wrong," Derek chuckled

"Eh, we'll just get 'em used to profanity early," Stiles teased, leaning a little bit closer

"Guess we will,"

"I look forward to it,"

Stiles leaned up, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek before running off towards the round pin, face burning red

Derek's own face was as red as a cherry, smiling at the ground before starting off towards the stable

And, for the first time in years, he rolled up his sleeves


End file.
